Something Spoilerish Is The Catalyst For 47’s Actions In Hitman: Absolution

In case the title didn’t give it away, this article will contain some story spoilers. Now, I know that this has been revealed in the past, but out of respect for gamers who haven’t yet heard it and don’t want to, and gamers who are like me and don’t like spoilers of any kind, I’m offering you the chance to back off.

So, to the story then. Hitman: Absolution director Tore Blystad has talked about the killing of Agent 47′s series handler Diana Burnwood, revealing that it was a “really big,” and “tough” decision for the team to make, and one that needed a lot of work going back and forth.

Blystad, recently speaking with OPM, said that strong emotions surrounded the decision, but despite the fact that many of the good people at IO Interactive felt “really sorry” that Diana had to die, the developers needed a strong catalyst for Agent 47′s actions in Absolution’s story.

“To bring emotion to a character like 47 there needs [to be] something really devastating to kind of shake him up. It was a tough decision,” said Blystad.

“If you look at him, he’s always been told what to do, been more on other people’s missions [than his own]. So making this his game and about his decisions – enabling him to create the briefings on his own instead of having someone tell him what to do all the time – was the starting point, because then it would feel like the player was a bigger part of creating the story.

“And this emotional side is very closely attached to that. For him to have a reason to do something, there needs to be some sort of emotion behind it.”

Hitman: Absolution will be out on November 20 for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. It’s my most anticipated game of the year, personally speaking, so I really can’t wait. It’s a good thing I’m not that invested in the Hitman story as much as I am in its amazing gameplay, otherwise I would have been jelly about this.